The E-Waste Database

🌱 Why is e-waste recycling important? Globally, “the amount of e-waste is rising five times faster than the amount that is being recycled”. That also means we urgently need innovations and solutions to both reduce the amount of incoming e-waste and to reuse the e-waste that has already been produced. The production of e-waste is not only an environmental and social issue, but it is also a lost economic opportunity. According to the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor, around EUR 84 billion are “lost each year when valuable metals like copper, iron and gold are discarded instead of being reused”. 🌱 What issues arise when recycling e-waste? E-waste recycling is complex as there “diverse states of damage and [a] variety of device models involved”. In practice, this means that workers typically have to “manually prepare” e-waste for recycling. This involves sorting the waste, dismantling devices “with hammers and pliers”, and removing batteries. Batteries are “a major challenge in e-waste recycling”, as they pose a considerable fire hazard. Additionally, other hazardous materials also “pose significant risks” to workers. 🌱 What role can robotics, AI, and automation play? Through the use of robots, many tasks now done manually at e-waste recycling facilities can be automated. The use of robotics, for example, allows for the creation of “a human-like hand that can manipulate objects with great precision”. Amongst others, disassembly robots can perform a large number of tasks completely autonomously. This includes “screwing, lifting, cutting, extracting, localizing, repositioning, releasing, moving levers, bending, breaking and cutting wires”. The tricky part in e-waste recycling is that there are so many different types and builds of devices. In essence, “every time there is a change in the product or the process, the hardware and software [of an automized recycling system] need to be restructured”. By using AI to make sense of sensor and camera data, it is however possible to “create a robot that can adapt to many different tasks” and to develop a fully automated system. 🌱 What role does this play for the future? Overall, systems that use robotics, AI, and/or automation can reduce the costs for e-waste recycling and improve worker safety. The reduced reliance on manual labor can considerably lower operational costs, which currently act as an economic barrier to formal e-waste recycling in many countries. Increasing material recovery rates globally through e-waste recycling is key for a circular economy and the energy transition. On a local level, increased material recovery rates through e-waste recycling can also contribute to more supply chain security and self-determination in countries’ decisions on their material and energy matters. Read more about the use of AI and robotics here: - https://projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/en/horizon-magazine/ai-powered-robots-help-tackle-europes-growing-e-waste-problem - https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/455676-robots-lead-the-charge-in-recycling-electronic-waste - https://techxplore.com/news/2025-02-robots-automated-disassembly-recycling.html#google_vignette - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/robotics-and-ai/articles/10.3389/frobt.2024.1303279/full

🌱 How do generative AI systems create e-waste? Generative AI algorithms and models — which include ChatGPT, large language models, and other “types of AI that generate texts, images, videos or music from massive datasets” — are “dependent on rapid improvements in hardware infrastructure and chip technologies”. The same holds true for the “computer resources required for training and using AI in data centers”. E-waste is produced when hardware becomes outdated and is consequently updated or replaced. 🌱 How much e-waste is estimated? Overall, “[t]he increasing popularity of generative AI is projected to result in the rapid growth of e-waste”. A study published in Nature Computational Science in 2024 estimates that the e-waste “created from generative AI data centers could rise to 5 million tons per year by 2030”. Therewith, the researchers are also “predicting a thousand-fold increase in e-waste from AI computer servers by 2030”. 🌱 Why might even more e-waste be produced? As the market for AI is developing rapidly, the estimates from the 2024 study are “potentially on the low side”. Amongst others, “[f]actors such as geopolitical restrictions on semiconductor imports and rapid server turnover” could further increase the e-waste created through generative AI. It is also important to note that other forms of AI also create e-waste, and these too are expected to create their own e-waste. 🌱 How could the e-waste from AI be reduced? Unsurprisingly, it is “easier and more cost-effective to address the e-waste challenges posed by AI now" rather than later on. Overall, prolonging the use of hardware, reusing components, and extracting valuable materials through recycling could significantly reduce e-waste. The 2024 study estimates that these strategies “could reduce e-waste creation by 16% to 86%”. This is most likely to succeed “if supported by policies” and “widely implemented across industries and regions". Read more about e-waste from generative AI here: - https://www.dw.com/en/e-waste-from-ai-computers-could-escalate-beyond-control/a-70619724 - https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-024-00712-6 - https://spectrum.ieee.org/e-waste - https://hbr.org/2025/02/ais-growing-waste-problem-and-how-to-solve-it - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/generative-ai-could-generate-millions-more-tons-of-e-waste-by-2030/ - https://www.lawjournal.digital/jour/article/view/303 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-10-29/generative-ai-generating-millions-tonnes-electronic-waste-data/104514376 - https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3285049/ai-may-produce-millions-tonnes-electronic-waste-2030-study-finds

🌱 Why are the circular economy and energy transition important? The production of non-renewable energy has a significant negative impact on the environment and the climate. By transitioning over to renewable energy sources, it is possible to develop and meet our energy needs in a more sustainable manner. This is especially true if the reduction, reuse, and circularity of valuable resources needed for renewable technologies is at the heart of this transition. Both resources and energy can be saved by avoiding the production of unnecessary e-waste through companies and consumers. 🌱 How can circularity mitigate environmental damage from electronics? The production of electronics consumes energy and water. It is largely dependent on the mining of finite raw materials. Both the mining process and e-waste may emit toxic chemicals. More specifically, the mining for metal, minerals, and raw materials used in electronics can cause habitat destruction, soil and water contamination, and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the incorrect disposal of e-waste often results in toxic chemicals being leached into the ground and surrounding freshwater. By using electronics responsibly and reducing e-waste, it is possible to reduce and mitigate some of the adverse effects of the electronics sector. 🌱 How can circularity cut emissions in the electronics sector? The electronics industry is estimated to have emitted 580 million metric tons of CO2 in 2020. It is therewith amongst the top eight polluting sectors, which are collectively responsible for more than half of the world’s carbon footprint. Yet, by increasing the lifespan of electronic devices by 50% to 100%, it is possible to mitigate up to half of the total greenhouse gas emissions created by the electronics industry. This lifespan increase can be achieved – for example – through ecodesign, repair, refurbishment, and reuse. 🌱 What role do consumers’ energy choices play? The energy sector is responsible for about 40% of global CO2 emissions. Yet, it is estimated that up to 20% of consumers' energy use can be saved through behavioral changes alone. On average, households “generated 25% of [the] energy-related greenhouse gas emissions” on the European market in 2010, and they “consumed almost 13% more energy” than they did just two decades prior. By challenging and changing the social norms, collective conventions, and widespread consumption patterns leading to our ever-increasing consumption of energy, it is possible to cut resource use and emissions. Read more about the impacts here: - https://circulairekennis.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/O014-Disentangling-the-worldwide-web-of-e-waste-and-climate-change.pdf - https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/873091468155720710/understanding-co2-emissions-from-the-global-energy-sector - https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/can-we-save-energy-by - https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/achieving-energy-efficiency-through-behaviour